Continuing gains after yesterday's 359-point rally following the RBI policy, the BSE Sensex shot up by 104.96 points, or 0.50 per cent to 21,033.97 -- eclipsing the previous record close of 21,004.96 on November 5, 2010.

The 30-share bluechip index's intra-day high of 21,206.77 was hit on January 10, 2008.

"Continued buying from FIIs and greater risk appetite of investors at higher levels is leading to this rally," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 30.80 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 6,251.70, after touching the day's high of 6,269.20. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed 69.68 points up at 12,514.81.

Brokers said the trading sentiment continued to be bullish on expectations of liquidity enhancement after the Reserve Bank of India cut marginal standing facility (MSF) to 8.75 per cent in its monetary policy review yesterday.

A firming trend in the Asian region and higher opening in Europe before the outcome of US Federal Reserve's meeting where the USD 85 billion a month monetary stimulus is expected to be maintained, also influenced the Indian market sentiment.

Sectorally, the BSE Healthcare sector index gained the most by rising 1.19 per cent, followed by FMCG (1.12 per cent), TECK (0.66 per cent), Power (0.51 per cent) and realty (0.47 per cent).

Sensex ends at record high of 21,033.97, up 105 points

(Reuters) BSE Sensex rose on Wednesday to mark a record close as telecom firms such as Bharti Airtel surged on better-than-expected operating performance, while continued strong foreign flows also boosted sentiment. Bharti Airtel Ltd soared 5.3 per cent while